Cowra Shire
Local government area in New South Wales, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cowra Shire is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Lachlan River, the Mid-Western Highway and the Lachlan Valley Way.
Cowra Shire | |||||||||||||
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Shire offices in Cowra Location in New South Wales | |||||||||||||
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| Coordinates: 33°49′S 148°44′E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||
| Region | Central West | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1980 | ||||||||||||
| Council seat | Cowra[1] | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Mayor | Paul Smith[2] | ||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 2,810 km2 (1,080 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 12,724 (2021 census)[3] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 4.528/km2 (11.728/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Website | Cowra Shire | ||||||||||||
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The largest town and council seat is Cowra. The municipality also has a number of small villages: Billimari, Darbys Falls, Gooloogong, Morongla, Noonbinna, Wattamondara, Woodstock, and Wyangala.
The mayor of Cowra Shire Council is Paul Smith.
Council
Cowra Shire Council has nine councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent by-election was held on 21 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:[4]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Independents and Unaligned | 7 | |
| Independent Labor | 1 | |
| Independent National | 1 | |
| Total | 9 | |
The current Council is:[5]
| Councillor | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Smith | |||
| Nikki Kiss | Independent | ||
| Erin Watt | Independent Labor | ||
| Cheryl Speechley | |||
| Cheryl Downing | Independent | ||
| Peter Wright | Independent | ||
| Ruth Fagan | Independent National | ||
| Karren Cave | |||
| Tony Horton | |||
Election results
2024
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Paul Robert Smith (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Cheryl Downing (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Tony Horton (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent Labor | Erin Watt (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Cheryl Speechley (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent National | Ruth Fagan (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Peter Wright (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Independent | Nikki Kiss (elected) | unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | |||||
2021
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Bill West (elected) | 2,132 | 27.5 | ||
| Independent | Erin Watt (elected) | 1,138 | 14.7 | ||
| Independent | Sharon D'Elboux (elected) | 705 | 9.1 | ||
| Independent | Nikki Kiss (elected) | 676 | 8.7 | ||
| Independent | Cheryl Downing (elected) | 527 | 6.8 | ||
| Independent | Peter Wright (elected) | 428 | 5.5 | ||
| Independent | Paul Smith (elected) | 386 | 5.0 | ||
| Independent National | Ruth Fagan (elected) | 265 | 3.4 | ||
| Independent | Donna Peters | 260 | 3.3 | ||
| Independent National | Ian Docker | 235 | 3.0 | ||
| Independent | Rodrick Buhr | 230 | 3.0 | ||
| Independent | Judi Smith (elected) | 216 | 2.8 | ||
| Independent | Michael Nobes | 152 | 2.0 | ||
| Independent | Alex Cozadinos | 145 | 1.9 | ||
| Independent | Rebecca Morgan | 143 | 1.8 | ||
| Independent | Simon Bray | 126 | 1.6 | ||
| Total formal votes | 7,764 | 94.2 | |||
| Informal votes | 480 | 5.8 | |||
| Turnout | 8,244 | 85.0 | |||
